- Panel to invite all relevant officials, private individuals
- Proceedings will hold behind closed doors to allow full disclosure
Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja
The three-man committee headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to investigate allegations of financial impropriety against the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal and the Director-General of National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mr. Ayo Oke, has said it would discharge its duty without fear or favour.
Oke was suspended based on the discovery of N13.3bn discovered in an apartment in Ikoyi, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which he claimed beleonged to the NIA.
The committee which pledged to conduct its assignment with utmost diligence and turn in its report within 14 days as scheduled, also spelt out the procedure for its operations.
The committee was constituted on April 19 by President Muhammadu Buhari to probe allegations of violations of law and due process against Lawal on the award of contracts as the Chairman, the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE). PINE was set up by the president with the mandate to spearhead the rehabilitation of North-east destroyed by Boko Haram.
Specifically, the SGF had in December last 2016, been accused by the Senate of awarding contracts for grass cutting in the crisis-ridden North-eastern part of Nigeria to his Company, Rholavision. He was also accused of awarding contracts to Josmo Technologies to the tune of N272 million for Josmo to allegedly pay back the sum into Rholavision’s Ecobank account some days later.
The committee was also saddled with the responsibility of conducting investigation into the funds discovered in a flat in Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos as well as the claim of ownership of the money by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
The committee was tasked to investigate how and by who or which authority the funds were made available to NIA, and to establish whether or not there has been a breach of the law or security procedure in obtaining custody and use of the funds.
A statement issued yesterday by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media, Mr. Laolu Akande, disclosed that the committee had begun its work in earnest.
Following perceived speculations on the conduct of the committee’s work so far by some newspapers, Akande said the committee’s activities would be conducted in closed-door sessions to avoid speculations during which he said relevant persons to the probe would be invited to state their own sides of the story.
The statement reads: “The Presidential Committee ordered earlier this week by President Muhammadu Buhari to probe certain allegations against the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engineer Babachir Lawal, and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Mr. Ayo Oke has commenced its work in earnest.
“President Buhari on Wednesday established the 3-man panel headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, with Attorney-General & Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami and National Security Adviser, Rtd Major General Babagana Munguno as members, to investigate allegations of legal and due process violations made against the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF and the discovery of large amounts of foreign and local currencies by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in a residential apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos.
“In the discharge of its work, the panel is expected to invite all relevant officials and private individuals who may be connected to both cases. It will also obtain and scrutinize documents that may throw some light on the issues raised in both cases. All its proceedings will however be in closed sessions to avoid speculations, allow for full disclosure and enhance the pace of proceedings.
“The panel which is expected to submit its report to the President at the expiration of the 14-day deadline, will conduct its work with utmost diligence and without fear or favour.”
Though the statement said government officials and private individuals connected to the probe would be invited, it did not list those who would appear before the panel, apart from Babachir and Oke, whose names had been in the news.
The Acting Chairman of EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Magu, appeared before the panel, last Friday, the day it began to sit. Magu’s agency carried out the raid on the apartment located on the 7th floor of Osborne Towers, Ikoyi where cash in various currencies – made up of $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23,218,000 – was recovered. EFCC has already secured an interim forfeiture order on the money from the court.
It is expected that the Amb. Oke will appear before the panel in the coming days to provide details of the NIA ownership of the recovered money which was said to have been approved for the agency’s covert operations by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
THISDAY however gathered last night that contrary to speculations that invitation would be extended to former President Jonathan who gave approval for the release of the funds to NIA, the panel is not mulling such idea.
A competent source told THISDAY that the committee was not oblivious of the powers of the president to give approval for the release of such funds, and as such the former President would not be asked to explain why he exercised such power.
“The office of the President is an important office which has enormous power granted to it by the laws of the land and approval of funds for this kind of covert operation is one of such powers that is exercised by occupants of that office. It will not be proper to ask a former occupant of the office to explain why he exercised the power granted to him by law,” the source said.
Meanwhile, THISDAY learnt last night that the apartment in which the money was found was rented in late 2015 as a safe house and ownership transferred to NIA that same year, though the funds were moved into the building in December 2015.
Worried by the negative publicity that the raid and the recovery of cash have attracted to the NIA, a source close to the agency said: “You see, this thing looks unusual in the eyes of most people, but to people in the intelligence community, it is a normal practice to keep funds in safe houses and in that manner. Had the EFCC not made a scene out of this when it carried out the raid on the apartment, this whole issue would have been resolved without bringing a strategic agency like the NIA to ridicule.”
The source further said: “Government all over the world provide their secret agencies resources to execute defined and broad assignments and such resources provided are held in a way that will ensure that such can be accessed easily at a very short notice without leaving any trail that may compromise their operations.
“Sadly, many commentaries on this development have failed to put into consideration the fact that the funds were duly approved by the former President for covert operations, which may not even be possible to put details of such covert operations on paper so as not to compromise identities of operatives or set goals.
“Even some of the operatives of the agency may not even be aware of some of the things going on in their respective secret agencies because they only have access to information on need to know basis even if the person is an operative working on particular covert project.”
